# Staff Technical Program Manager

**Company:** [Duolingo](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/duolingo)
**Location:** Seattle, WA
**Role:** Technical Program Management
**Salary:** $182k – $272k/yr
**Experience:** 7+ years
**Skills:** Technical Program Management, Roadmapping, Change Management, AI Tools, AWS, Machine Learning, LLMs, Software Engineering, Systems Engineering, Executive Communication
**Posted:** 2026-07-17

> Lead high-visibility initiative to double developer productivity at Duolingo by defining roadmap, driving organizational change, and partnering with DevAmp on AI-powered tooling and engineering transformation. Requires proven TPM or engineering leadership experience, deep technical credibility, and ability to align executives in ambiguous environments.

## Job Description

## You will...

- Define and drive the roadmap for doubling developer productivity across Duolingo — aligning engineering, product, and data science around a shared vision, sequencing the work, and holding teams accountable to measurable outcomes.
- Lead organizational change management as engineering teams adopt new ways of working — building alignment, communicating progress to executives and ICs alike, and helping teams internalize new processes and tooling.
- Partner closely with Developer Amplification (DevAmp) Area leads to accelerate developer productivity through AI-powered tooling, ensuring programs have clear goals, measurable impact, and sustained momentum across engineering squads.
- Lead the delivery of strategic, high-impact cross-functional initiatives from conceptualization to launch, operating with significant autonomy across multiple workstreams.
- Partner with engineering, product, data science, QA, and executive leadership to ensure communication and alignment; serve as the connective tissue between Duolingo strategy and day-to-day execution.
- Leverage deep technical expertise to develop detailed plans with key milestones and goals, identify and mitigate risks, resolve dependencies, remove blockers, and ensure timely and smooth launches.
- Establish and evangelize engineering practices that drive step-change improvements in developer productivity — coaching engineering leads and TPMs on new ways of working and how to measure their impact.
- Drive decisions when difficult tradeoffs must be made, including those with cross-organizational or company-level impact; model how to navigate hard problems with analytical rigor and a calm, decisive presence.
- Identify systemic issues impacting delivery efficiency company-wide and take swift, collaborative action to resolve them.
- Guide and develop other TPMs and engineering leads, scaling best practices across teams and continuously improving how the organization operates.

## You have...

- Proven experience as a TPM, Engineering Lead, or Engineering Manager.
- B.S. or M.S. in Computer Science or equivalent degree or experience.
- Demonstrated experience leading large-scale technical transformation programs with measurable organizational impact — you've shifted how engineering organizations think and work, not just shipped projects.
- Strong executive presence and influence in a matrix environment — able to build conviction among skeptics, align competing priorities across senior leadership, and drive decisions without direct authority.
- Deep technical credibility — enough to challenge architectural assumptions, spot delivery risks early, and earn the trust of strong engineers.
- Proven ability to build and implement detailed plans that account for ambiguity, dependencies, and technical complexity — and to re-plan quickly when things change, without losing team confidence or momentum.
- A track record of standing up new programs or practices from scratch in ambiguous, high-visibility environments.
- Ability to relocate to Seattle, WA.

## Exceptional candidates will have...

- Strong knowledge of software engineering, systems engineering, or similar hands-on technical experience, in addition to program management experience.
- Strong conceptual fluency in LLM-based products, AI infrastructure, and developer AI tooling - enough to ask the right questions, challenge technical assumptions, and identify delivery risks.
- Experience running programs that include machine learning, large datasets, or AI/ML infrastructure.
- Experience working with AWS at scale.

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